Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a 6-4 guard from Chattanooga (TN) Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, will announce his college decision at 8 a.m. on Nov. 14, according to the Cats Pause.
The finalists for the four-star combo guard between Kentucky, Texas, UNLV, Syracuse and Florida. The onetime Florida commit is viewed as a heavy UK lean, on Monday, so we gathered our staff for one final roundtable on what we expect to happen.
Timothy Coleman
I say he picks Kentucky on Monday. He brings versatility to the guard positions, he has the ability to play point guard at 6'5" and shoots well enough to play off the ball. He also can guard multiple positions on the perimeter. He's underrated nationally because he did not play on the travel circuit in July.
Alexander played for the U18 Canadian Team, after that he was on the roster for the Canadian Senior National Team. He was four years younger than anyone else on that roster. Kentucky fans will be surprised at what he can do because not many people have seen him play.
Practicing with the national team was better competition than he would have received on the travel circuit playing Nike EYBL with the Arkansas Wings. To me he has more upside than Quade Green or Trae Young.
I say welcome to Big Blue Nation on Monday.
James Streble
The Canadian Shai Alexander may be Cal's latest commitment of the 2017 class. He just recently received a scholarship from Kentucky and things really started to heat up. He is announcing Monday, and it seems like Kentucky is getting him. He is a good combo guard and with Calipari seemingly losing out on John Petty, still waiting on Hamidou Diallo, Lonnie Walker, Quade Green, and Trae Young, he wants to get somebody to commit in order to get that ball rolling.
Jeremy Chisenhall
Shai Alexander is going to Kentucky. There's no way Cal will let him slip away after he decommitted from Florida. Cal has moved on Alexander quickly, going to see him play and then offering him a scholarship immediately following that.
This is Alexander's biggest offer yet, and I think Cal getting in before many other big programs will help a lot.
Jordan Abrams
Alexander would bring a lot of great passing to the table for Kentucky next season if he were to become a cat. Alexander has good height at 6-4 and is very quick with good vision. He could improve a bit on his long range game, but overall he would help the cats out a lot.
I think Alexander will commit to Kentucky. Florid and Kansas will be fighting very hard for him, but I think Cal wins out in the end.
Jason Marcum
It’s not looking good for UK in the recruitments of several guards in 2017, so it’s imperative they get Shai Alexander in the fold. Between Lonnie Walker leaning towards Arizona, Hamidou Diallo heavily considering turning pro, and neither Quade Green nor Trae Young looking like a sure thing, UK must come out of the early signing period with a quality guard.
Alexander makes the call for the Cats.
Ryan Clark
Shai is smooth. He seems to always be in control. And the former Florida commit is long - with a 6-10 wingspan - and can play either guard spot. Simply, he's a Cal kind of point guard who will come to UK.
In this season of recruiting, where Kentucky needs about seven players and it can come down to who comes on board first, this is a prime example of one player (Alexander) taking the spot originally reserved for someone else (Petty). Getting Alexander is important just to get a quality guard in the fold.